Ronald Moore pled guilty to theft by deception for filing a false SEPTA accident claim. Septa lawyers caught this scam by way of video cameras that are now being installed on SEPTA vehicles.
Mr. Moore watched a Septa accident happen, immediately ran onto the SEPTA bus after the accident, and laid down in the aisle, pretending he had a personal injury. Unfortunately for Mr. Moore, this was all caught on tape.
It is my understanding that these video cameras are not costing SEPTA anything — The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is footing the bill for the cameras in order to discover crimes that DHS is concerned with. Discovering fraudulent SEPTA bus accident claims is merely a by-product of this program.
This can cut both ways, however. SEPTA can use it against individuals who say they were hurt on or by their vehicles if the video footage shows otherwise. Case in point: Last year, a passenger on a bus sued SEPTA, with a bus accident claim that he was injured in an SEPTA bus accident while a passenger. The video did indeed verify that he was a passenger on the bus. However, the impact was so minor, that 2 asleep passengers did not even awake as a result of the “impact.” At trial, the jury returned a verdict against SEPTA for causing the accident, but awarded this alleged personal injury victim passenger zero dollars!
Of course, the video can be used against SEPTA, if it shows that the passenger was on the vehicle AND it shows that the passenger was thrown out of his/her seat or was otherwise hurt.
Moral of the story — do not try to get away with insurance fraud against SEPTA or any insurance company!